In the early
1800s, trade with Native Americans dealt primarily with beaver pelts,
because the durable fur was so water-resistant that beaver hats had become
all the rage in Europe and America! Other animals trapped for their fur
included fox, mink, otter, muskrat, and white-tailed deer.

Most native
traders had little use for money, however, and were confused by the variety
of European currencies still circulating in America. Instead, they exchanged
their pelts for rifles, kettles, glass beads, cloth, blankets, and liquor.

The fur trade
along the Mississippi River flourished into the 1840s. After that time,
however, most Indian tribes had been "removed" to the West.

Did
you know ?
The monetary term "buck" derived from fur trade slang. Around
1800 the standard price for the skin of an adult male deer was one dollar,
hence "a buck" for a dollar. And beaver fur was expensive, so
hat makers experimented with cheap rabbit fur by treating it with mercury
salts. Prolonged exposure often led to mercury poisoning, causing jerky
movements and dementia leading to the expression "mad as a
hatter."

The Indian
Removals

"I
loved my towns, my cornfields, and the home of my people.
I fought for it. It is now yours. Keep it as we did." - Chief Black Hawk, 1832

In 1829, President
Andrew Jackson ordered Native Americans to relocate onto land west of
the Mississippi River. The Sauk and Meskwaki (formerly known as Sac and
Fox) were split into two camps - one accommodating, one defiant. Sauk
Chief Black Hawk led nearly 1400 followers back across the Mississippi
to reclaim their homelands in southwestern Illinois in 1832.

Illinois militia
plus 12,000 U.S. Army soldiers chased the rebellious Black Hawk for four
months through Illinois and Wisconsin. The war ended tragically on the
banks of the Mississippi where 300 Sauk warriors, women, and children
were massacred. Retreating into Iowa, the Sauk and Meskwaki were forced
to cede more and more of their land to the US government. By 1845, the
tribes were sent to Indian reservations in Kansas.

Elsewhere,
over 52,570 Native Americans were removed from their ancestral lands.
Receiving the worst treatment were 15,000 Cherokee from southeastern states.
Equipped with few wagons, they were marched on foot to Oklahoma reservations,
suffering through starvation, exposure, and a smallpox epidemic that took
the lives of 4,000 men, women, and children. The Cherokees' journey is
known today as "The Trail of Tears."

Did
you know ?
Black Hawk surrendered at Fort Crawford where the fort commander was Zachary
Taylor. Lieutenant Jefferson Davis escorted the chief to a St. Louis prison.
Also serving in the war was the young captain of a volunteer Illinois
militia named Abraham Lincoln.
And in 1856, a small group of Meskwaki purchased 80 acres of land in Tama
County, Iowa. They now own 3,000 acres and are one of the few Native American
tribes to live on or near their original homeland.